Austin, TX (Law Firm Newswire) April 23, 2014 – Truckers are not always at fault in an accident. Road designs may contribute to collisions.

“A recent accident at the Interstate 45 interchange with Loop 610 South was the scene of a fiery explosion that killed a trucker. Police could not determine if the cause was another driver, the trucker speeding or some other factor,” indicates Bobby Lee, an Austin trucking attorney with Lee, Gober & Reyna. “The only thing left when the flames were finally damped out was the skeleton of the truck containing the driver’s remains.”

The main reason why police found it difficult to determine the cause of the wreck was due to the fact that it took place at one of many ramps that are sharply angled, a problem for many 18-wheelers to negotiate without being exceedingly cautious. According to police reports, it could not be accurately determined if the accident happened inside the curve of the ramp, which it appeared to be on first inspection, or outside of it which may be expected in a crash of this nature.

“It’s no secret that there are a number of potentially dangerous locations that bottleneck traffic on our highways,” says Lee. “Add in poorly designed ramps, lots of vehicular traffic, serious lineups, traffic congestion and active trucking companies with numerous tractor trailers on the road and you have a recipe for disaster.”

Despite the number of strikes against a driver due to external driving conditions, such as a poorly designed road or ramp access, it remains the responsibility of the trucker to adapt to existing road conditions. Sharp curves are clearly posted with warnings that are intended to alert a driver to slow down and take care. Did the driver in this crash not pay attention to the warnings? Make the curve going too fast? An accident reconstruction team will eventually untangle the site and make sense of it.

“Also up for consideration in cases such as this one is whether or not the tractor trailer was defective in some way. Bad brakes? Poorly lashed down load that shifted suddenly? Cracked or blown tires? It’s hard to tell, which is why, if the trucker’s family wanted to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit, the attorney would need to thoroughly inspect the scene of the wreck and immediately preserve the evidence,” adds Lee.

Other factors in trucking accidents include jurisdictional issues that may involve various states, locations, law firms and insurance companies. For anyone that has been involved in a crash with a semi, make sure to connect with an experienced injury lawyer for assistance in filing a personal injury claim.

Seibert Clarification from the U.S. Supreme Court Regarding Miranda RightsAnyone who has seen a cop show knows about the now famous 1966 Miranda case where the US Supreme Court imposed procedures designed to protect people from being coerced into giving a confession to the police while the person is being interrogated in police custody. The police, not wanting to be hindered by the requirement to provide Miranda warnings developed a two-step “question-first warn later” technique wherein the police interrogate a suspect without providing Miranda warnings, get the suspect to fully confess, then give the suspect the Miranda warnings and get the suspect to re-confess. The effect of this technique […]

Texting distracts movement even when not on wheelsDistracted driving isn’t the only transportation danger posed by texting, as distracted walking can result in harm as well. Some media reports indicate a rise in texting while biking even. What people don’t seem to realize is that walking with eyes on one’s phone and not on their surroundings can get them seriously injured or killed. We’re all familiar with the woman who went viral in a video after she walked and fell into a fountain in the middle of a mall while texting. Such stories are in the media everyday: people walking into moving traffic, fountains, walls, creeks, lakes, […]

Cop pulls over distracted driver, only to get hit by another texting driverIn a tale almost too bizarre to comprehend, an Oregon motorcycle police officer pulled over a driver for texting while driving on the Interstate, when a van ran into him from behind and ejected him from his motorcycle. The 55-year-old van driver wasn’t paying attention to where he was going because he was using his cellphone. The 41-year-old trooper was taken to the nearest medical center for treatment and listed in stable condition. This is the ultimate graphic example of the dangers of distracted driving, and highlights the difficulties of enforcing such a law at the grassroots law enforcement level. […]

Older bikers do not have the same reflexes as they did when they were youngerStatistics on motorcycle deaths are beginning to show an increase in the number of older riders meeting their deaths while biking. Daily, more than 12 people die in motorcycle accidents. A constantly growing portion of those killed are from the baby boomer generation. It’s not that they don’t have the experience. They do. However, their reflexes are not what they once were – a simple, yet frustrating part of life. According to the numbers, bikers in the 55 to 64-year-old bracket accounted for 16.3 percent of fatalities in 2013 and 17.2 percent in 2012. Why are the death tolls higher […]

Legislators hope to keep affluent circumstances out of courtroom sentencingFor months the media have doggedly generated headlines from the case of Ethan Couch. In December 2013, the Texas teen pled guilty to drinking and driving, and killing four people, using the affluenza defense of being swaddled into not being responsible for any of his actions during his upbringing. Texas lawmakers disagree with the validation of this fabricated disease, and want to ban the defense from ever being used in court again. State representatives feel the decision was not only fundamentally flawed, but an insult to the criminal justice system. James White, a state representative from southeast Texas, introduced a […]